Chester review

Some thoughts on the racing that took place at The Roodeye last week. I visited the course for this meeting last year, it was not one of my happiest experiences at a racecourse.

Unless you are in the County Stand, the viewing of the racing is poor. I watched all the races on the large television screens that are scattered around the enclosures. These screens are very necessary, because the ‘tented village’ that is set up in the centre of the course obscures the view of the racing. If you do go to Chester and can’t afford the entrance to the County Stand, I suggest you set yourself up in the centre of the course. The paddock is sited there and you get a great view of the horses, the place isn’t that crowded, except the bars, and there are screens where you can watch the racing, and, as that is where the stable staff watch the action, you have the opportunity to ask a question or two.

This year’s card opened in the traditional way with the Lily Agnes Stakes, 2-y-o fillies over the minimum trip. Always reminds me of a greyhound race, you want a horse that traps quickly and rails well! The 4/5fav., She’s A Shaw Thing, looked the obvious choice to me. I had been at Nottingham the day that she blasted from the stalls and made all in the style of a useful filly. There were a couple of doubts in my mind, the ground at Chester was a lot faster than the ground she encountered at Nottingham and also, her trainer, David Evans had another runner in the race, White Shift, and when interviewed berfore racing gave the impression that there wasn’t a lot between the two fillies, Evans had engaged Robert Winston to ride the longer-priced of the two.

When the stalls opened the favourite didn’t make the explosive start I had seen at Nottingham and, in fact, seemed to struggle to go the pace. She eventually finished fourth, beaten about five lengths, with her stable companion one place ahead of her. The race was won by the second favourite, Doncaster Rover, ridden by L. Dettori.

I was a bit puzzled by this race, does the filly need soft ground, why was she ridden differently when her style of racing would have been ideal for this track? We will have to wait for her next run to see if the impression she gave me at Nottingham was false or not.

Sail, from Aiden O’Brien’s yard, won the Oaks Trial from Sugar Mint. I was at Bath the day that Sugar Mint broke her maiden and I find it difficult to believe that this was Oaks-winning form.

Two horses were pulled up int the Chester Cup which was won by that old scoundrel, Bulwark. There were four horses injured at the meeting, one of them, King Orchisios, fatally. The clerk of the course insisted that the ground wasn’t unsafe, or too firm, but Mark Johnston, the trainer of one of the casualties thought that the grass growth wasn’t right, and I have since read that there was evidence of re-seeding and that drainage work had been carried out on the course.

Bertoliver made all, at a blazing pace, in the sprint handicap and he is one to consider in any sprint handicap where raw speed is of the essence, the Epsom Dash springs immediately to mind.

The riding honours on the second day definitely go to John Egan, two handicap wins and a short-head second in another handicap, he really rides this track well, a strike rate of 17% and a level stake profit of over 40 points in the last five years.

Darryl Holland was another jockey who excelled on the second day. I thought he had gone off much too fast on Championship Point in the Group 3 Huxley Stakes, but ‘The Dazzler’ had got the ‘fractions’ right and held off Maraahel, who was trying to win this race for the fourth time, in a driving finish by a neck.

Doctor Fremantle won the Chester Vase, a trial for The Derby, by half a length from All The Aces. The winner hasn’t got an entry in the Epsom classic, and, as yet, has not been supplemented. The second is a big colt who wouldn’t have been ideally suited by this track and looks as if he will make up into a nice horse.

The handicap that John Egan got beaten in, was won by Huzzah who looks just about the gamest animal in training, he just won’t lie down. One to have on your side in future big handicaps. The second, Fervent Prince, had been developing a reputation as a ‘bit of a thinker’ until his win at Kempton last time out, but there was little wrong with his effort here, and against any other horse than the game winner he would probably have prevailed, another one to keep on your side.

Friday’s racing got off to a very exciting start with the opening 7.5 furlong handicap resulting in a blanket finish between six horses. Celtic Sultan prevailed by a diminishing neck, but as this was his seasonal re-appearance it is fair to assume that he will come on for the run.

The second Derby trial of the week was won by Tajaaweed, a fine-looking colt, he held off Unnefer, a less scopey sort, by a short-head. I find it difficult to visualise either of them winning the real thing at Epsom.

I’m afraid the rest of Friday’s racing passed me by as I discovered that £600 had gone missing from my current account, a cash transaction carried out at my local branch……..but not by me or my wife. The rest of the afternoon was spent on the phone.

Sorry about that.

Colin